India Cuts The Cord On Imports, Test-Fires Fully Indigenous AK-203 "Sher"
India's Korwa Ordnance Factory has successfully manufactured an AK-203 rifle, named 'Sher', using entirely indigenous components. This milestone marks a significant step in India's defense self-reliance strategy, replacing the older INSAS rifle.
Why it matters
Achieving full indigenization of military hardware reduces India's reliance on foreign imports and strengthens its domestic defense manufacturing capabilities.
Amethi's Korwa Ordnance Factory has reached a milestone in India's effort to replace the INSAS rifle: an AK-203 made entirely from Indian components, with no imported parts.Named "Sher", the rifle was manufactured at Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL), the joint venture responsible for producing AK-203 rifles in India since 2019. The rifle has successfully undergone firing trials at Korwa, including automatic and burst firing.What sets the latest rifle apart from thousands of AK-203s already produced in India is that every component and raw material used in it has been sourced domestically.The development marks a significant step in India's push for greater self-reliance in defence manufacturing. The Army had been seeking to replace the INSAS rifle for years amid complaints from soldiers about issues including jamming in cold conditions and cracking magazines.India signed an agreement with Russia in 2019 to manufacture AK-203 rifles domestically rather than import them.
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